The Animal Inside
by Abcbatsyzyx
Summary: A school is turned into animals and now it is up do Dean and Sam to make sure that they turn the kids back into normal.


_Title: The Animal Inside_

_Summary: A school is turned into animals and now it is up do Dean and Sam to make sure that they turn the kids back into normal._

_Disclaimer: As always, Supernatural does not belong to me. If you see anything that looks remotely familiar chances are it is not mine so please do not sue or anything._

_A/N: For English class, our teacher gave us the opportunity to write a piece of literature. With the help of a classmate, we chose to write a FanFiction. The theme was student life represented by animals. I had a magnificent time working with my friend to write this so I hope you enjoy. For those who have read my other FanFictions, you very well know I love myself a little hurt Dean, so even though this was an assignment I still put in some hurt Dean. A word of warning there is a little bit of fighting between parents so you have been warned. Please review! It would mean the world to my friend and me to know what you thought about our piece ^-^._

* * *

It was late in the evening, and Deborah stormed out of the house slamming the door shut behind her. Her father had a few drinks too many and he stared yelling at her mom. Her mom cried and shook uncontrollably. In fact, her dad was about to yell at her mom when Deborah purposely made a racket as she left, and judging by the silence, she had knocked some sense into her father.

She walked over to a nearby park where her mom and dad use to take her when she was little. She sat on the swing and swung slightly. She could virtually feel her parents around her. A tear or two left her eyes. She swung for a while before seeing the time on her phone. It was 8:30 and without a doubt, her parents would be worried, even if they had fought.

As she walked back to her house, she reminisced old times. Ever since the economy had taken a turn for the worse, her dad had been drinking excessively. His breath constantly smelled like alcohol and he had some serious mood swings.

She slipped into the house and went up to her room. She passed her mom on the stairs, but her mom kept her eyes glued to the ground, apparently still shaken by the day's events. Once in her room she took out her laptop and started surfing the web. As she explored her MySpace, she saw a link on how to do magic. She thought it was like any other of those crappy MySpace ads so what harm would be done if she pressed the link.

However, when it opened up, it wasn't like anything she had seen before. Unlike the typical ad, it didn't ask for her cell phone number and the "magic" was written in an unknown language. She had seen "spells" before, but she knew they weren't real because whenever she tried one nothing would happened. In fact, she remembered that it was supposedly a spell to soften someone heart. She wanted her dad to stop yelling at her mom so she muttered

_May this gifts fill your heart dad_

_And when you are given the chance_

_To sentence someone, may you find_

_Fogiveness and mercy._

Of course, nothing happened, her dad continued to scream but she kept reading because like the previous spells she had seen, it provided comfort knowing that there might be a slight chance of the supernatural.

As she scrolled down, she found a title that caught her attention. It read "A spell to make sure that those that hurt hurt no more."

_Luna, luna, EGO dico super vos_

_Athero dad valo him per,_

_Virus suus animu,_

_Per suumens,_

_Licentia haud secui of him secundum,_

_Permissum lemma vox quad existo in poena,_

_Permissum lemma recubo quad vado insane,_

_Planto hum reputo sit scum,_

_Planto him votum nex would advento!_

The spell captivated her so she repeated it over and over again until she memorized it. Maybe, just maybe, she could use the spell to stop her dad from yelling at her mom. She finally dozed off still repeating it in her mind.

At 7:00 A.M., her alarm went off. She detested Monday because it meant a return to the world where she was neither part of or nor welcome. A world where image ruled above all other qualities. She wished that everyone could see each other for who they truly were. Animals. Animals that were living in a kingdom where cheerleaders and jocks ruled above all creatures. As she left her home, she turned off the computer, afraid her mother would see her recent search.

Deborah got to school just in time. Walking through the hallway, she saw Caroline and her group of hyenas. She had known Caroline since elementary. She had seen her transform from her best friend to her worst enemy. She wondered why they couldn't be friends again. What went wrong? The answer was much more obvious than she would have liked to admit.

As Deborah walked to her biology class, Carl was standing in front of the door like a bouncer. When she was about to walk into the class, he closed the door, making her tardy to class. Carl enjoyed seeing her suffer for her suffering made him feel powerful.

"Ms. Haines you're tardy again. Why can't you be like your peers? They arrive early everyday."

Even teachers were blind to their true identities. Deborah just ignored the comment and pretended to open her book to a chapter in order to make her go away. She disliked ignorance and people's limited ability to see reality, especially when it was right before their eyes.

The teacher was giving a lecture about genetics and errors made in meiosis during sexual reproduction that result in genetic deformities, when Carl made an offensive remark. "No wonder she's a FREAK."

Deborah knew that the insult was directed towards her. Deborah turned around and flipped him off. "I thought all humans had transformed through evolution, but I guess not all humans can develop. I guess some of us shall always remain apes."

Mrs. Stanley started yelling and told Deborah to leave her classroom and not return until she had spoken to her counselor about her issues.

As Deborah walked toward the counselor's office, she knew there was no true solution that she could get from someone else. She had already tried talking to her father about his drinking addiction, but that didn't work so Deborah had stopped believing in communication a long time ago.

Ms. Serre was a well-known counselor, especially with the male students. Ms. Serre was what they called a hot administrator, someone who most males didn't mind sharing their feelings with. "Hello, Deborah. Your teacher just called me to make sure that you showed up to my office. Is there anything that I can help you with? Do you need to talk about anything in particular with me? Problems at home or at school?"

Deborah got annoyed with these types of questions. She believed counselors were gossipers who liked to know everything about everyone. "Nope. Nothing is wrong just the same daily routine."

Ms. Serre noticed that Deborah was showing resistance. However, Ms. Serre remained peaceful and didn't seem to mind unlike the rest of her teachers. "We all face difficult times. We all need someone or something to lean on, but when you are ready, we can talk. I won't force you for a response. Until then, you can leave but I need you to stay out of trouble for today or we will have to notify your guardians about your rebellious behavior."

Deborah left that room thinking why she let her go so easily without trying to force her to reveal her feelings. For the first time in a long time, she felt liberated.

The rest of the day continued uneventful. Every time one of the other students had provoked her she simply bit her tongue and did her best to ignore them. By the time 3 o'clock rolled around, she was on the verge of exploding and going on a rampage. However, she held herself together. When the clock stroke three, she virtually ran home, ready to get away from that living hell. Neither of her parents were home, which meant her mom was at work and her dad was probably at some bar getting his evening beer.

She made herself dinner and took it up to her room. When she finished eating, she tidied up her room a bit and checked her email before taking a nap. She was suddenly awakened by some yelling and crying downstairs, without a doubt her dad was home and yelling at her mom. She sneaked quietly down the stairs only to find her mom on the floor and her dad towering over her.

"You can NEVER do anything right! You ruined my life! I gave everything to you and that stupid child of yours and now that I have nothing you have nothing to give back! I hate you!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Her mom only whimpered knowing that talking back would provoke him further.

"Say something! I bet you like it when I yell at you. Stand up for yourself you worthless tramp!" He bent over, grabbed her by the hair, and pulled her up. Her mom continued to cry uncontrollably. Annoyed by his wife's cries, he slammed her into the wall and slapped her.

Having seen enough, Deborah marched into the living room and yelled, "Get away from her, you drunk!" She then muttered the curse she had learned the night before. A sudden strange sensation swept through her body and as quickly as it started, it disappeared. Her dad dropped her mom to the ground and turned to Deborah. He glared at her for a minute or two, then grabbed the keys and left. As soon as she heard the car drive away, Deborah ran over to her mother's side. She cradled her mom in her arms and whispered, "It's all going to be okay, promise."

About an hour later, her mom composed herself. She went upstairs and fell asleep. Shaken, Deborah watched TV. She had never expected her dad to do that. She had accepted the yelling, but she would not accept her dad if he laid even a finger upon her mom. Then a call distracted her from her trance. "Hello," she answered.

"Hello, are you the wife of Arthur Haines?"

"No, I'm his daughter, my mom is asleep upstairs. How can I help you?"

"I'm sorry to be telling you this, but your father got into an accident. Apparently, he had been drinking and didn't stop in time, so he rammed into a car. Luckily, both survived, but your father is in the hospital. He sustained some serious injuries, but he is in stable condition. He is at the Pines Mountain Hospital."

Deborah was shocked. She didn't know what to say, "Thanks. I'll go tell my mom."

Placing the phone back in the receiver, she ran up the stairs. She shook her mom slightly to wake her up from her slumber. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Mom, Dad got into an accident. He's in Pines Mountain Hospital."

Without further ado, her mom got out of bed and got ready. Five minutes later, Deborah and her mom were on their way to the hospital. Her mom asked where her husband was and rushed to his room. Deborah followed her silently, somewhat disturbed by her dad's accident. When she entered the room, she saw her dad upon the bed, he was conscious but he looked like hell. He was cut and bruised and had multiple bandages. A part of her was disturbingly satisfied that her father had gotten what he deserved for hurting her mom. As she watched her mom caress his forehead, Deborah realized something. The accident had strangely happened forty minutes after the curse had been said. Her dad was also in no condition to further hurt her mom. 'Nah,' she thought, shaking her head slightly, 'The curse was fake. No way could it be real. Could it?'

A few hours later they left, back home. It was already three in the morning so she slept for a few hours before getting ready to go back to school.

Deborah always liked walking through the football field. She liked the feeling of taking a separate path different from all the others. It made her feel special. She pondered on the thought that maybe, just maybe, the curse may have worked. Was she to blame for her father's accident? She only said it out of anger and wanted him to stop. At the same time, it provided her with comfort to know that at least for a while the yelling and abuse would stop. She had gotten a sense of justice and peace from the accident, but she still had an overwhelming feeling of guilt, after all the man was her father.

As she continued to walk, she noticed the football players running around the field getting ready to practice. Deborah always thought of them as animals that were fighting for meat: a competition for popularity, survival. She saw Carl and immediately thought, 'Oh no.' She knew trouble was coming.

"Sup, Deborah," he called.

Deborah just continued to walk her path. He didn't give up, though. He was the type of predator that was not going to let its prey get away without having some fun first. "So I was wondering that maybe if you cut your hair, put makeup on, and lost weight, we could go out one day. I'll call you, though, because I don't think it's easy to go from ugly duckling to a swan."

Deborah smiled, "What? Is your girlfriend Caroline not providing enough love? Maybe you should try a blow up doll. I hear their cheap and I know for sure she won't complain."

She started laughing and made her way toward her first period. The only thing she heard come out of Carl's mouth was "b****."

When Deborah got to biology, the first thing she did was connect her earphones to her iPod. While the music was playing, she noticed that by replacing their sound she could see them for who they truly were. She noticed how Katherine kept making disgusted faces at Caroline who was supposedly her best friend. As she turned around, she noticed that Andrew was sending secret letters to Sylvia. Deborah found it funny how they were so self-centered and believed that nobody was watching them. The entire period Deborah just kept listening to her iPod knowing that Mrs. Stanley didn't care and even if she noticed, Mrs. Stanley didn't want to make Deborah be in the spotlight again.

The bell rang to lunch, and as she was making her way out, someone tripped her. When she looked back, she could see Caroline snickering.

"What the hell Caroline! What's your problem?"

"Carl was just telling me that you have been talking s*** about me, YOU FREAK!"

Deborah looked at Carl with pure hate. "Did he tell you that I rejected him and that's the reason why he made up those lies," she shot back.

With disbelief Caroline, grabbed her by the shirt "Look here, you slut. My boyfriend would never want someone like you when he has someone like me."

"That's not what he said," Deborah replied, smiling slightly at the thought that Caroline felt threatened.

By this point, the entire school was aware of the fight and was forming a circle around them.

Within the crowd, she could hear guys yelling, "Rip her shirt off!" She could also hear others say, "Kick her ass!"

Deborah was so angry and humiliated. She just wanted everything to stop and for a moment, some words kept coming to her mind and every single time they got louder, like if her only relief was to blurt them out.

_Vos es totus bestia quod pro acting amo bestia vos vadum_

_exsisto verto ut nonnullus_

_Bestia vos vadum exsisto , bestia vos vadum exsisto , quod vos irretitus_

_in vestri verus identity vos vadum subsisto_

_Bestia vos vadum exsisto Bestia vos vadum exsisto_

_Audite meus vox bestia vos vadum exsisto_

Deborah didn't know what was happening. She didn't understand what had just occurred, but mysteriously she knew what she had said. Where she learned it? She had no idea, but she had a much bigger problem now: they were going to come after her to humiliate her. Her only solution was to run away and find a safe spot where no one would find her.

She could hear the footsteps of her peers behind her. Without a doubt, they wanted to humiliate her further, but no, the injustice would end now. She ran down the hall looking left and right for any tiny opening that might provide shelter. As she rounded the corner, she found a small open closet. She sneaked into the closet and held her breath. She nearly jumped out of the closet when the bell rang signaling the start of fifth period. When she heard the halls clear out, she slid to the ground, crying silently. 'Why can't they just leave me alone,' she thought as the tears rolled down her face. She sat there waiting to calm down, before returning to class. Going to class with swollen, red eyes, was suicide. All the other students would attack her like hungry beasts. While waiting for her eyes to return to normal, she heard a screech, followed by a number of screeches each stemming from a different classroom. She cracked the door open, only to find teachers running out of their classrooms locking the door shut behind them. She heard Mrs. Stanley screech, "They're animals, ANIMALS!"

'It was me. I turned them into animals. Now, what they're going to kill me,' she thought praying that she be turned into an animal herself. However, as if by some miracle, she felt herself turn into an animal. An empty bottle in the corner reflected her image and she saw that she was a hawk. Her new form gave her power; she had the skills of a hunter. Without further ado, she burst out flying from the closet. As she flew by the classrooms, she saw the classrooms filled with animals. She flew and landed gracefully on a ledge carefully observing the halls, waiting for her prey. The lack of food during lunch further excited her, for this was the thrill of the hunt.

The teachers had all locked their students, now animals, in the classrooms. The teachers all went to the office, eager to ask the principal, Mr. Edwards, for advice. They burst into the principal's office demanding to know what was happening. All the teachers were shouting what they had just seen desperately trying to find some explanation.

"SILENCE!" yelled the principal, effectively stopping the teachers' rants. "This is a situation that is quite unpredictable. I shall call the police, and ask them to close down the school."

"How is closing down the school going to help?" asked one of the teachers. "I mean, how is this going to help the children? Something freaky is going on out there and you want to lock them up here? Sooner or later their animal instincts are going to kick in and they are going to start devouring each other."

"Well what do you propose? Should we just wait for the parents to come pick up their children, wait for them to riot, and demand to know where their children are. Look, first we need to find a way to change the children back, because otherwise we're going to face a LOT of problems." A few teachers nodded in approval as the principal continued, "So, now we wait, find a way to make the children, children again." He turned to his desk and dialed 911.

The principal spent the next fifteen minutes convincing the local police that all the children were animals. Eventually, however, the police agreed and shut the school down.

Another teacher asked, "What are we going to tell the parents?"

"We'll say that someone has entered the school grounds and has a bomb. Let me call the police to tell them to bring the bomb squad to make it seem more realistic."

A couple hours later, the news had spread. Reporters from every newspaper and news broadcast in the area were out there spreading the story that a student had gone on a rampage and had threatened to blow up the school if anyone left or entered the school. The principal and the staff were quite relieved that the people had accepted that story. However, a number of spectators had showed up. Almost all the parents were now circling the school premises pressing the police for more information. They wanted to know why nothing was being done. In order to calm the parents down, the police chief held a conference. He told them that it was dangerous to send anyone into the school because it would be endangering the students. He assured the parents that their children would be out of harm's way quite soon then left effectively avoiding any further questions. Most parents were in tears fearing what would happen to their children if something were to go wrong. Neighbors calmed each other down, but still, they demanded answers.

Inside, the situation was no better. Teachers were marching up and down the hallways ensuring that all the students were still inside the classroom. The PE teacher had provided them all with hockey sticks in order to use if any of the students were to attack them. They would huddle n corners and discuss what were to happen if the students got loose. Sometimes, when the teachers would peek into the classrooms, they would see their rooms being torn up as the students started exploring their animal instincts.

Then, one of the classroom doors burst open. The teachers scrambled to find cover, as the animals left their cage. The animals opened up the other doors letting out their fellow animals. Deborah continued to watch as all the animals were set free. She knew exactly who each animal was. She saw some horses racing down the hall, the track guys. She saw the pack of hyenas in the corner snickering at all the other students, without a doubt it was those annoying cheerleaders who loved to poke fun at other students. Taking this opportunity, Deborah swooped down and dug her claws into Caroline, who let out a cry in pain. Deborah landed on one of the open doors were Caroline could clearly see her. Deborah's eyes were filled with satisfaction as Caroline looked at her with disgust and anger.

The teachers saw the hawk attack the hyena. Two of them left to go tell the principal what has happening. Upon hearing the news, the principal simply shook his head and said, "We need to do something or the whole school is going to end up dead, but what can we do?

Michael had been on the job for only a few weeks. He had gone through all the basic training and nothing had prepared him for this. When the police chief had first contacted them explaining the situation, he could barely believe his ears. Students turning into animals? That was downright impossible. However, when he got to the school he could hear the occasional animal cry and he knew that this was a problem he was never supposed to face. His father had been a hunter a long time ago; however, he had met his end on a hunt with a ghoul a few years ago. His dad had always wanted him to learn to fight the creatures of the night, but Michael refused. As he observed the events at the school, a part of him wished he had learned. His dad had left him a few contacts in case anything was to happen and the first one on the list was Bobby. Michael pulled out his cell and called Bobby.

"Hello?"

"Bobby ?"

"Who's this?"

"This is Officer Michael. My father was a demon hunter named Jacob. He died long ago and told me that if anything happened that I should call you."

"What happened?"

"Something weird is going on in my town. A few moments ago, a school called saying that their students had turned into animals. They don't know what to do and our fear is that the animals will get out of control and that the school will become a bloody graveyard. I need your help. The school has notified the public that the school is shut down because of a bomb threat to relieve suspicion, but they can only contain the animals for so long until the real story breaks out."

"Oh, boy. Well I'll send the Winchesters to go check it out."

"The who?" Michael had never heard of the Winchesters. Actually, he didn't know anything about demon hunting. He never believed in the supernatural even though his father was the greatest believer, but the situation at the school was getting out of hand and the need to believe wasn't a question anymore.

"Look boy, if you want them to come soon you need to stop asking me these damn questions and start getting more information for them."

"Them? Who them?"

"Sam and Dean," Bobby replied impatiently before hanging up on the confused cop.

After so many times of calling them, Bobby had learned the Dean's number by heart, so he quickly dialed Dean's number. Dean and Sam had barely bought some food at a drive-thru and were in the process of eating, when Bobby's call came in. Dean had just taken a huge bite out of his burger, when he saw that Bobby was calling so he flipped open and said "Ello," earning himself a look of disgust from Sam.

"Dean?" Bobby questioned.

"Ey, Bobby. Is me. Wha happen?"

"Why are you speaking like that?"

Dean swallowed his mouthful, "Sorry, I was eating. So, what happened?"

"There's this cop, Michael who's having some problems. I knew his father a long time ago, but turns out, he died a few years ago. He was telling me that there's a situation at a school in Nebraska and he was wondering if you could check it out. That's all the info he gave me. He's gonna call back to finish telling me the information, so I'll call you then."

"Okay. We'll start heading to Nebraska. It'll be about an hour before we get there. Call us back as soon as you can."

Dean swerved the car around, and started his way back to Nebraska. Actually, they had done a simple salt and burn in Nebraska the previous night. They were at most an hour away from Nebraska. Sam asked, "What happened?"

"Bobby wants us to go check something out in Nebraska. When he calls back, you pick up. I need to finish my burger before it gets cold," he said before shoving the burger in his mouth.

Sam looked at him with disapproval as he finished eating his food. A couple of minutes later, Bobby called back, "Hey, Sam. Where's Dean? The school is at Thedford, Nebraska."

"Hey. Dean's stuffing his face as usual. We're like fifteen minutes out of Nebraska, so it'll be forty-five minutes before we get there. Who's this guy that we need to talk to?"

"His name is Michael. He's a cop, so be careful with what you say around them. This goes double for Dean." Sam snickered and Dean looked at him perplexed, before turning his eyes back to the road. "His father was a hunter so he has an idea about what is going on." Eager to find out why Sam was laughing at him, Dean made a grab for the phone. Dean kept tugging on Sam's coat hoping that with some luck he would be able to grab the phone. Bobby heard some scuffling on the other side. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sam responded laughing. Letting his guard down, Dean stole the phone from him.

"Hey, Bobby. Why was Sam laughing?" Dean asked.

"You idjit. Keep your eyes on the road, and get there soon," Bobby said before hanging up.

"Jerk," Dean muttered at Sam. "So what did Bobby say?"

"He said that the name of the cop to talk to is Michael," he said earning a roll of eyes from Dean. "What? There's nothing wrong with cops." Dean rolled his eyes again. "Dude, his dad was a hunter."

"Oh."

"And Bobby said to be careful with what you say around him and the other cops, especially you."

"Dude, I'm careful. So where we headed to?

"Thedford, Nebraska."

About half an hour later, they arrived in Thedford. The town was as tiny as could be; it was only a few streets wide and had all the traditional street names. As Dean and Sam drove down the street, they got looks from all the town residents. Apparently, few visitors ever roamed the area so seeing the sleek black Impala '67 roam the streets was an eye catcher. They drove up to the police station and asked for Michael.

From the back, came Michael. "So, you guys are the Winchesters. This was the first place my dad would always go to during his hunts, so I deemed it best to come back here to see if I found you guys here. Wanna come with me to my place? It'd be best if we talked there."

Dean looked at Sam questioningly, but Sam nodded so they followed Michael back to his home. It was a tiny place, which could only be found by using the dirt trails. Once inside, Michael offered them some drinks, but Sam politely denied for both of them, leaving Dean slightly disappointed. "So, umm, Michael, what happened?" Sam started.

"Well, I've seen a couple of freaky things over my lifetime, most of which were due to my dad. You see he was a hunter too. However, earlier today we got a call from the principal at Thedford High School. Apparently, all the students had been turned into animals. At first, the police chief was skeptical, but a part of me believed him. They talked for a while and eventually the police chief gave us the order to go shut down the school. We all went down to the school and shut it down saying that there was a bomb threat. The principal didn't want anyone to know about what was going on until they figure out the problem. However, they don't even know where to start, so I thought it might be something supernatural. So, I called Bobby and well you know the rest. So what do you think caused all the students to turn into animals? I looked through my dad's notes, but as I said I have no idea what may have caused it."

"Hate to break it to you," Dean said, "but, we have no idea what might be causing it, either. We're gonna dig around a little and see what we find. Will we be able to explore the school?"

"According to the story, no one can come in or out, so we're going to have to wait until night so we can sneak you in. In order to make sure that the kids don't start eating each other, we managed to get our hands on a variety of foods, so at night when we sneak in the food, we'll bring you guys along too."

"Okay. Do you know where we can rent a motel so we can rest before we have to get started?" Dean asked.

"Yea, there's a place called Arrowhead Motel on Walnut. My parents knew the owners and it's a good place. I'm sure you'll like it." He handed Dean a sheet of paper, "This is my cell phone number for in case you guys need me. I'll probably be at the school in a couple of hours."

"Okay, thanks."

As Dean pulled out the driveway, he said, "Hey Sam, I agree with Michael. No way, a creature is causing this. The only things I can think of that might be able to turn a whole school into animals are a witch, a trickster, or a god. The thing I don't understand is why any of them would want to turn a whole school into a zoo."

"Well, maybe a trickster might find it funny to see a bunch of parents have children animals."

"True."

"When we get to the motel, Imma see if I find any other signs that may show that it may be a trickster or anything else for that matter."

Upon arriving at the motel, Dean went to go get the room, while Sam starting unloading things from the Impala. To Dean's delight, the bed was equipped with "Magic Fingers." Sam started doing some research while Dean fed the machine quarter after quarter. After the tenth quarter, Sam finally said, "Dude, do you know how annoying it is to try to work and be listening to the bed vibrating."

"Hey, they vibration helps me work," Dean shot back, "I'm thinking about why it's not a god."

"Uh huh? So what have your thoughts concluded?"

"I never said I had come up with anything. I just said I was thinking."

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean and resumed working. After an hour or two, he heard the bed stop vibrating. Sam snickered when he saw Dean asleep. He was pretty hungry, so he woke Dean up. "Hey, apparently all that thinking took a toll on you."

"Shut up."

They found a restaurant, where Sam ordered a salad and Dean ordered a burger and pie. As they found a seat Sam asked, "How can you eat hamburgers so many times a day? Don't you ever get tired of them?"

"Nope," Dean responded as he found a table at the corner in the very back where he could easily keep an eye on the rest of the restaurant and where they could talk without risking being overheard.

"So, while you were _thinking_, I found out that there have been no previous incidents that indicate that it's a trickster. Even if the trickster was barely getting here, there would have been signs in nearby areas and I found nothing like that. In fact, there have been no unusual deaths or anything else that might signal a trickster. As for a god, I also found no disappearances. Dean I think it's a witch, but again there haven't been any unusual events. However, our closest guess is a witch."

"Huh."

"How are we going to hunt down a witch before they start devouring each other? We have no leads."

"Well maybe Missouri might be able to work some of her mumbo jumbo and find out who it is." He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and called Missouri. Almost instantaneously, she picked up. "Hi, Dean. I just booked my flight to Nebraska. I should get there around ten. Pick me up the airport and don't roll your eyes at me boy."

"I haven't done anything. Could you use that…"

"It's not called 'mumbo jumbo' so stop saying that. I'll see you soon."

"Yes, ma'am." Dean quietly put his phone back into his pocket. Dean's expression made him look like a little kid who had just gotten in trouble.

"I take it Missouri's on her way?" Sam asked effectively snapping Dean out of his trance. He silently nodded his head. "So, who do you think is the witch?"

"Don't know. I say you call Michael and ask him to come so we can ask him some questions."

"Why me?" Sam knew the reason why Dean didn't want to call, but it was priceless to see Dean's response.

"Shut up."

By the time Michael arrived, both Dean and Sam had finished eating. Dean had indulged in a second piece of pie not only forget what Missouri had told him, but to enjoy the savory bites.

"So, how can I help you?" Michael said as he sat down.

"We think it's a witch. Except that we need to know if there is anyone, you suspect might know how to use witchcraft. Dean called a friend and asked her to come help us, but it would be very helpful if there is anyone who we can investigate."

"Well, there's this lady named Mrs. Merriweather," he said leaning forward and lowering his voice. "Rumor has it, she's a witch. They say that a long time ago a kid went to her house as a dare. However, that night, the kid never returned so the parents filed a missing person's report. They did an investigation, but they didn't find any evidence that the boy had even been there. If you ask me, I think she used her magic to make sure that all evidence was destroyed. If you want to go question her, you guys can follow me. We better get there soon before the daylight runs out. I'd hate to be there without any light."

Five minutes later, they arrived at Mrs. Merriweather's residence. No wonder people thought she was a witch. Her house was falling apart. All the plants were a tangled mess of weeds and dead houseplants. The house was dirty and grimy. The windows were so dirty that it was nearly impossible to look through them. The shingles were falling off the roof. When Dean turned off the impala's engine, Michael waved good bye and left. As Dean and Sam, the porch creaked loudly as if no one had stepped on them for a while.

"Who's there?" the old lady screamed as Dean and Sam came face to face with a shotgun that was aimed straight for their heads. "Who are you boys? What do you want? If you try anything funny I won't hesitate to shoot."

Sam being the most qualified to calm people down responded, "Hello, Mrs. Merriweather. We are with the FBI and we are trying to close up old cases. So we were wondering if we could please question you to try to put an end to that missing person case a few years ago."

"Let me see some id and let me contact your superior."

Sam handed her a business card and they both took out their fake ids. She inspected them as she dialed the number on the card. They had set up a system with Bobby where if they ever requested to contact their superior, they would call Bobby who would vouch for them. As was expected, Bobby told her that they were the FBI and that they were trying to close up some old cases. With a last sigh of hesitation, she let them into her house.

"So what do you want to know? Nothing has changed since last time the police was here."

"Well just as a fact check could you please describe everything that happened on the night the boy disappeared?"

"I've been living here ever since my husband died. I don't ever leave the house, because the garden always reminds me of the way he used to care for his garden. My niece a couple towns over brings me food every other week. On that day, I never received visitors. The local kids often are dared to come and knock on my door, but that time there was nothing. It was until two days later when the police came and they told me what had happened. They devoured my home searching for evidence, but there was nothing they could find because he was NEVER here."

"Is there anything nearby that is slightly out of the ordinary that may have caused the boy's disappearance?"

"Nope, as I said, the house is unmaintained so the kids think it's funny to get dared to come here. There is nothing freaky about this area. In fact, when this house was in top shape, we often held parties here and invited over neighbors, but now I could care less for this place. The only thing is this area that is out of the ordinary is my run down shack of a house."

"Okay. Thank you for your time, ma'am."

When they were in the car, Dean said, "She's no witch. Her house has nothing that shows witchcraft. No herbs, candles, sigils, spell books. As far as I could tell, she is a perfectly normal person, who got caught in the middle of something nasty."

"Yea. Hey it's nine already, I think you should start heading towards the airport, just drop me off at the school so I can go have a talk with Michael."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me," Dean asked pleadingly.

"No."

Dean dropped Sam off at the school, and left to the airport. As Sam left the impala, he noticed that Dean's hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. He simply shook his head and searched for Michael. Sam found Michael in a little tent the police had set up to keep some privacy. "Hey, Michael, we investigated Mrs. Merriweather and it's not her. We found nothing that might show that she's a witch. Normally, there would be signs, but we found none. I think it might be someone inside the school who might be causing it."

"Well, they're going to take the shipments in a twelve. I'll get the principal on the line so you can ask him any questions."

"Okay."

Fifteen minutes later, Michael had the principal on the line.

"Hi, Mr. Edwards. My name is Sam. We need to find a way to turn the children back into children. As you are very well aware of, there is no way so many children could become animals. This may prove to be a total shock to you, but we think something is turning the kids into animals. We think it's a witch, but we need all the help we can get."

"A witch? Are you crazy?"

"I know this seems impossible, but you just have to trust us. Now is there anyone who might have a reason to attack or hurt another person? However, this can't just be any form of anger; it has to be a deep-rooted hate that can power a person to do witchcraft."

"I'll ask the counselor to see if there is anyone who might have been having some problems."

Sam sat in the tent and waited for the principal to call back with news. In the meantime, he heard the roar of the engine as it came to a halt right outside the tent. Sam heard Missouri say, "Boy, don't march in there. Be a gentleman and hold the door open." With a grunt, Dean lifted the entrance to the tent and let Missouri enter. Sam could see that Dean was far from ecstatic. "So, Sam, how have you been?"

"I've been good. So how can you help us find out who's the witch?"

"Once inside, I can touch into the different student's feelings. When I find the person who is most troubled, I'll tell you."

"Okay."

They talked for a while about different things, and then the call came. Sam eagerly picked up the phone. "Hello."

"Okay, so I asked the counselor and she said that there have only been two kids who have come into her office for anger related problems. However, the only student she knows that might posses a great amount of anger is Deborah. Being a small town, we all know the different problems families are facing. In the case of Deborah, her dad was a drunk. To make matters worse, her dad got into an accident last night. In school, she faces a number of problems like constant bullying. Her remarks quite often earn her a trip to the office."

"Okay thanks. We'll be inside in about thirty minutes when they take in the food." Sam hung up and turned to Dean. "He said that there's this girl, Deborah. By the looks of things, there are more than enough reasons for her to try out witchcraft."

"I'll go check out her place to see in case we can find the spells she used in order to reverse them," Dean replied.

When Dean arrived at Deborah's house, he found the house was completely empty. His skills came in handy as he picked open the door lock. He ransacked Deborah's room, but he didn't find anything. However, he saw Deborah's computer on the ground. The whirl of the computer fan meant that the computer was on, so he opened it up. He called Sam and asked how he could access her history. After some instruction, Dean was able to find the website Deborah had accessed. On it he saw some spells that were far from good. As he checked the time, he saw that the last time it was accessed was the day before her dad got into the accident. He printed out the sheet knowing that Sam would know what the spell was for.

"Sam! This was the page she accessed," Dean said as he burst into the tent waving the sheet in his hands.

"Shhh! We're going to go inside. Follow me."

A gang of about seven people grabbed some crates and sneaked into the school. Once inside, they delivered the boxes to the hall entrances. The faculty's plan was to open the door long enough to throw the food inside the halls so that the students would not start devouring each other. When the left their cargo, Sam went to the office where he found the principal. "Hi, I'm Sam. So, can we talk to the counselor?"

"Yea, sure," the principal said, before leaving to go grab the counselor.

Missouri meanwhile peeked through the hall doors and saw a bunch of animals running amok. She closed her eyes and started focusing in on the different animals. After much sensing, she saw the hawk perched upon the door. When she focused on the hawk, she immediately felt the anger. "Dean that's her. She's the hawk," she whispered to Dean who was finding a room full of animals quite amusing.

"So what do we do?"

"We find a way to reverse the spell."

Dean pulled out the sheet of paper with the spell and showed it to Missouri. When she read the paper, she was taken aback. That spell was filled with powerful black magic. It was going to take a lot of work to reverse that spell. "I think this is the spell she used to cause her father's accident. We have to stop her," she said.

In the mean time, Sam was talking to the counselor, and she explained that Deborah was often bullied. She remembered reading on her file, that Deborah found comfort in the idea of magic. However, there had never been any incident. Ms. Serre sincerely cared for Deborah and asked, "Will she be harmed when you guys try to stop her?"

Sam was saddened that he couldn't provide happier news but he said, "We can't promise anything. We'll do our best to make sure she escapes unscathed, but she messed with something very dangerous."

A tear rolled down Ms. Serre's cheek for she feared what might happen to Deborah. Dean, Sam, Missouri and all the faulty met up in the teacher's lounge. Dean explained, "We need to trap Deborah. Missouri and I found an incantation that may reverse the spell, but we need to get her alone."

The janitor, Christopher, and Dean volunteered to trap Deborah. Missouri and Sam were going to say the incantation and the rest of the staff was going to keep the students away from the area. Dean snuck back to the Impala to grab his duffel with a number of supplies and quickly returned.

Armed with shotguns loaded with tranquilizers, Christopher and Dean entered the hall. They managed to scare the majority of students into the classrooms. A few small animals remained, but Deborah also remained in the hall. She wasn't scared of them; she was all powerful now. Using the empty duffel as a trap, both of them managed to get the hawk into the bag. They took her to an empty room where they set her free. She was infuriated. She flew frantically across the room. In fact, at one point she was able to cut a deep gash into Dean's cheek. "Stupid, bird. Now this is personal," he muttered.

Sam and Missouri came into the room and started reading a spell that would reverse the last spell.

_Per vox illae chant , EGO rid vos of vestri vox. __Sic permaneo alica ut vos iacio vadum exsisto reversed. Vos vadum iacio haud magis poena quod vestri vox vadum absentis. __Illic est nusquam ut vos can operor ut terminus is chant. __Opus iam. Exercitatio quondam. Vestri veneficus has iam nisus. Alica absum._

After a few words, the spell seemed to be working. Deborah fell to the ground and a bright light started to shine around her. A couple of words later, she had returned to a person. However, a black cloud entered the room through the vents and then entered Deborah.

"Well, hello. I finally get to meet the famous Winchesters. You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this moment," said the demonized, black-eyed Deborah.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, too," Dean responded.

"I've heard you're quite the cocky man. No matter. This foolish girl trusted magic to help her out. Her anger has fed me in ways that you can't even imagine. The more these kids touch into their animals instincts the stronger I become."

"I don't see how that's good news."

"Not for you Dean. It's good news for me. I'll be free from that hell hole."

"Well, believe me it won't be long before we send you back there."

"No you won't." With a wave of her hand, she pinned them four into the wall.

After all their encounters with demons, Sam had learned the exorcism ritual. Sam started murmuring the words. However, she pushed them farther into the wall. Dean who had gotten the luck of being pinned to a window, when the demon pushed him further into the window, the glass shattered. Dean was sent flying out of the window. He was thrown into the eight-foot fence. The pole that held the fence together effectively broke two of his ribs and a small wire that was poking out from the fence stabbed into his back puncturing who knows what. The blunt force of being thrown into the wall knocked him out.

Sam's world came to a halt as he saw his brother fly out the window. He stopped saying the incantation, he cared more about his brother than stopping that demon. As the demon fled, the rest of them were released from their pin against the wall. As soon, as Sam got to his feet, Sam bolted out of the building and found his brother bleeding profusely, "Dean! Come on man! Wake up!" Sam shook him and finally Dean started to stir. However, the pain brought him back completely, which caused Dean to let out a sharp gasp in pain.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" he muttered between his teeth.

"Oh. Let's get you back to the tent."

However, Dean didn't budge. He stood up shutting his eyes as the white-hot blinding pain shot through his midsection and head. "No, those kids are in danger especially if a demon is on the loose."

Sam wanted to stop his brother; he wanted him to get help, but knowing Dean, he wouldn't rest until he knew those children were safe. "Okay, but you have to go to the nurse's office so she can wrap something around your waist." Sam helped the limping Dean back into the school.

With the sound of the breaking glass, the parents started to worry and as a result, they started pressing the police chief for more answers. He did his best to assure them that their children were safe, but as soon as he got back to his car, he radioed Michael and told him to hurry up.

As promised, Sam took Dean to the nurse's office, where she wrapped a bandage around Dean's waist and temporarily covered Dean's gash and stab wound. When Dean walked out of the nurse's office, Missouri said, "Foolish boy. You could have gotten yourself killed. Don't you remember demons give a witch her power? Now, the demon is possessing Deborah, so she's no longer a witch but a demon. Lucky for you, this is a weak demon."

"Yeah. I did remember," Dean lied. "I still don't see how this is good news. So, this is what we are going to do. We'll get into the same groups as we were in last time, except this time Michael is going with you Sam. I'm sure the demon wants to finish what it started so we will let it chase me into the library. In the library, draw a Devil's trap on the roof where it won't see it. You guys, hide behind the shelves and once it's inside the trap exorcise it. The rest of the teachers will ward off the animals long enough so you can exorcise it. Hopefully, the spells will be lifted and the students will return to normal."

"Dude, but how do you plan to run if the demon starts chasing you? You can't even walk."

"I'll manage. You guys go draw the trap we will see you in a bit."

Armed with shotguns and holy water, Dean and Christopher headed off in search of the demon. They found it looking in at the animals inside the classrooms. "Hey," Dean called. "You sure do suck at killing people you know that."

Dean saw Deborah's possessed face flush with anger. Despite the fact that if it wanted it could easily catch up do Dean, the demon toyed with its prey for a while. It started running after him and as it would pass by, the doors that held back the different animals would burst open releasing a fury of animals that also chased after Dean. Christopher helped Dean run, but soon Dean's legs gave away. The pain emerging from his broken ribs was so immense that made his whole body give away. Upon feeling Dean fall, Christopher fell back and tried to help Dean up. However, the animals quickly continued to approach. "Sorry you guys," he whispered, as he started batting away at the approaching animals with the gun.

As soon as Dean was on his feet, they started running. The demon was quickly catching up. Christopher pushed the doors open and they can across the center of the library where Sam had set up the Devil's trap. Once the demon was inside the library, the rest of the faculty shut the doors so that the animals would not come in. As was expected, the demon became trapped in the circle. Dean finally collapsed right outside the Devil's trap. His body simply couldn't handle the pain he was in.

The demon within Deborah saw that the she was trapped. It made a frantic dash for the side of the trap. Scared by the idea that the demon might escape from its trap, Michael shot Deborah in the leg. However, the trap did its job and kept the demon within the invisible cage. Because the demon was possessing Deborah, it was able to remain pain free as it circled its cage looking for any weakness in the trap.

Sam said, "Good luck trying to get out. There is no way that you'll get out of that." Sam started reciting the exorcism incantation

_Exercizo te, imundissime spiritus, ominis incursio adversarii, omne phantasma, omnis legio, in nomine domini nostri jesu Christi eradicare, et effugare ab hoc plasmate dei. __Ipse tibi imperat, qui te de supernis caelorum in inferiora terrae demergie praecepit. Ipse tibi imperat, qui mari, ventis, et tempestatibus imperavit. Audi ergo, et time, satana, inimice fidei, hostis generis humani, mortis adductor, vitae raptor, justitiae declinator, malorum radix, fomes vitiorum, seductor hominum, proditor gentium, incitator invidiae, origo avaritiae, causa discordiae, excitator dolorum. __Quid stas, et resistis, cum scias. Christum dominum vias tuas perdere? Illum metue, qui in Isaac immolatus est, in joseph venumdatus, in agno occisus, in homine crucifixus, deinde inferni triumphator fuit. Sequentes cruces fiant in fronte obsessi. Recede ergo in nomine Patris et Filii, et spiritus sancti. Da locum spiritui sancto, per hoc signum sanctae Crucis Jesu Christi Domini nosrti: Qui cum patre et oedum spiritu sancto vivit et regnant dues, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen._

The demon writhed in pain as the black smoke was forced out of Deborah's mouth. As soon as all of the smoke had gathered in a cloud above Deborah, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. When Sam finished reciting the exorcism, the smoke vanished into the ground as the demon was sent back to hell.

Michael and Missouri tended to Deborah, while Sam and Christopher tended to Dean. Before kneeling next to Dean, Sam looked out the window to find a bunch of teenagers running wild in the halls. They immediately came to a halt, and wondered why they were doing the things they were doing. With a puzzled look on their faces, they looked at each other wondering why they were still in school and why they were in the halls. The principal, immediately, announced that all the students had to report to the gym.

Michael, radioed the police chief and said, "This is Michael. We need two ambulances in the library stat. The students have returned to normal. In half an hour, we shall release the students. You can go ahead and tell the parents that the suspect has disappeared and there is no sign bomb."

When all the students were gathered in the gym, the principal came to the gym floor. "Ladies and gentlemen. As you are well aware of, there was a very strange incident in the school. A student decided that it would be an interesting prank to put hallucinogen gas in the vents. If it weren't for Deborah Haines, you would all probably have been lost in the recesses of your mind. She was able to find the source and contact the faculty so they could remove it. When the faculty received news of the incident, they thought it was a bomb threat, so you guys have been here ever since the gas started to get into your systems. Apparently, the gas was specialized so that it would tap into the brain waves of the younger generations, as opposed to us, the faculty."

Michael then came onto the floor and said, "You will all released, however we want you to know that any more pranks of such nature will not be tolerated. Your parents will be worried sick, so we will take no further action and persecute the person responsible, however, if such incident were to occur again, the person causing it would be severely punished. In fact, Deborah was hurt as she tried to help you guys."

One of the students from the crowd yelled, "How come she wasn't affected?"

The principal responded, "Well, she was hiding in the closet so there were no vents that could directly affect her. Luckily for you, you will not remember what happened tonight; nonetheless, for the few of us that had to see the effects of this dangerous prank will be scarred forever. Have respect for your peers, especially those who are willing to put their lives at risk for you."

The principal ordered the students to form a line so they could be released in an orderly fashion. One by one, the families started to be reunited. Caroline stayed behind and asked the principal exactly what had happened to Caroline. The principal said, "She's on her way to the hospital. She sustained a few injuries but nothing life-threatening."

"Is there any way we can thank her for what she did for us?" Caroline asked, slightly guilty for having teased Deborah much.

"Well, for starters you can write her a card, where you write just how grateful you are for her help. Oh and Ms. Caroline, please go get that gash in your arm patched up. I'm guessing you ran into something."

Both Dean and Deborah were taken to the hospital. Dean was taken into surgery, where the doctors found that one of his kidneys had been punctured. Because the school had been filled with mysterious events, the hospital did not ask very much about how Dean had sustained his injuries. They patched up the stab wound and applied stitches to the gash on his face. As for the ribs, they wrapped them with some bandages and waited for them to heal.

While Dean was in surgery, Sam went to grab some coffee. As he looked out the window, he could see the morning sun starting to shine through. With one last sip of his coffee, Sam returned to the waiting room and was surprised to find Dean being transported into one of the rooms. Dean's doctor came up to Sam and said, "Your brother got very lucky. He has a concussion that seems to have happened by a blunt force to his head. He has two broken ribs and a punctured kidney. Actually, we feared that the ribs might have damaged some organs, but why the looks of things, he will make a full recovery. Right now he is resting, but he should be awake within a few hours."

"Thanks, doc." Sam entered Dean's room and found Dean sleeping peaceful, probably due to the drugs in his system. It was nice to know that the "Magic Fingers" wasn't the only thing that allowed him to sleep. Sam sat in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs, placed his half-full coffee cup on the stand, and watched Dean sleep for a while, before dozing off too. It was clear that the day's events had taken their toll on the two Winchesters.

As the doctor had predicted, Dean woke up two hours later, only to hear his brother's snores. A smile spread across his face as he saw his brother rest peacefully. He shifted in his bed slightly so he could turn on the television, but let out a quiet gasp of pain as his ribs protested his movement. Biting his tongue, he shifted a bit further. He turned on the television, and lowered the volume to its lowest setting. He found an animal show about hawks, and he laughed quietly remembering what had happened. Dean continued to watch the show for about an hour but then became restless; unable to resist the idea of playing a prank on his brother, he grabbed some water in a glass that was nearby and threw it at Sam's pants to make it look like he had wet his pants. Sam nearly jumped out of the chair as the cool water touched his skin. Dean started to laugh aloud, but quickly stopped because it was hurting his ribs.

"Very funny, Dean," Sam said, sarcastically.

"Oh, come on you know it was. At least, just a little."

"No it wasn't. Hey Dean, Deborah's here to see you. I'll be back in a bit; I need to change my pants no thanks to you."

Dean snickered as he saw the nurses look at Sam. To further add to his humiliation, Sam blushed with every look, making him look even guiltier. "Hey, Deborah, so how are you doing?"

"I'm good. Thanks for your help. I'm sorry that I hurt you like that. It's just that the kids at school always pick on me. I try to ignore them, but what they say still hurts me. Then my dad was abusing my mom, first verbally and then started to get physical. I started to research spells that might make them stop, but they never seemed to work, but this time they did." By the end, her speech was coming out in sobs, since she was so broken by the fact that she had caused this.

"Look, Deborah. I know how you feel. My mom died when I was four. Since then, my dad became obsessed with teaching us how to hunt the supernatural. Hunting isn't a profitable business. Quite often, my dad would go hunting and leave my brother and me alone. I had to care for him and make sure that he was okay. I moved around schools a lot and quite often, I was also picked on. On top of the beatings I would receive, I would take the ones for my brother too. My dad taught me how to fight, but we were prohibited from using it at school. I would often give everything I had to my brother so he could be in tiptop shape leaving me quite weak when I had to fight. Often, when you care for someone you must be willing to endure several arduous things. Believe me, you just have to live through it. Things will eventually get better.

"Look, have you ever heard the quote that 'with great power comes great responsibility.'" Deborah nodded her head. "Yea, well if today has taught you something know that although there are many powerful things out there, they are often dangerous. Be careful with what you use. Not everything means well. Sometimes, it's better to just live with the situation you are in than try to come up with a better solution and end up in a worse state."

"Thanks. Oh, that prank you played on your brother was quite funny. This was the first time I laughed in a long time."

An evil grin spread across Dean's face. "I'm sure this is the first of many laughs to come. Wanna help me play another prank on Sam?"

Deborah giggled as a sincere smile spread across her face. "Okay."

"Go get some sugar."

Deborah left and quickly returned with several packs of sugar. With the help of Deborah, Dean poured the sugar into Sam's coffee, until the coffee was saturated with sugar. Then Deborah kept watch over the parking lot to see when the Impala drove into the parking lot. As Deborah kept her eye on the parking lot she asked, "Why do spells come with the help of demons?"

"Don't know. I just know that when they do find someone who is willing to do magic they normally end up dying from the magic or the demon takes over the like it did with you and uses them for their bad deeds. Demons are just some sons of a b****** that like to hurt people."

Suddenly, Deborah rushed back to the seat, sat down, and made it look as if Dean and she had been talking since Sam left. Deborah winked at Dean, telling him that Sam was on his way. Dean continued, "If for any reason any demon was to give you any problem, you can scare them off using holy water and salt." Just then, Sam walked in. "So, Sam what happened with your pants," Dean teased.

"Shut up," Sam said as he walked over to the stand to get his coffee. He took a sip, only to taste the sweet coffee. Sam spit it out and wiped his tongue to get rid of the overwhelming sweet taste. Dean and Deborah were on the verge of tears as they laughed at Sam's facial expressions.

Once she managed to regain her posture, Deborah stood up and excused herself.

After her conversation with Dean, Deborah felt relieved. She couldn't believe that something could push her to that edge. She remembered a saying that said, "Things have to get worse before they get better." She sincerely hoped that the saying was true and that after the bad there would be some peace, a peace that didn't have to be implemented by violence, but by faith and belief in a better future. Magic gave her an illusion of harmony but the reality was that magic was magic. The fact was that life is reality and after the magic is gone, you have to face what in the first place you were hiding from. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," Deborah replied.

"Excuse me, miss, but you have some visitors would you like them to come in."

"Is it my parents?"

"No. I'm sorry miss; the young lady says her name is Caroline."

'What the f*** is Caroline doing here,' she thought. "Sure let her in?" she said cautiously. 'This is going to be interesting. What is she doing here?' "Nurse!" Caroline called.

"Yes?"

"Can you check on my father's status? He's in room 206. I would like to know as soon as possible. Thank you."

"Sure. I'll get you the information as soon as possible."

As the nurse left, Caroline entered. Caroline was nicely dressed as always, and was carrying a box of chocolates and flowers with a card that seemed to have multiple types of writing. Deborah was confused. Whenever she pictured Caroline, she was always trying to intimidate her. However, flowers didn't seem that intimidating.

"Caroline what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came to visit you of course. You silly girl! Ha-ha, after what you did for us, I had to come and show my respect."

With a puzzled face, Deborah responded, "What? You know what I did?"

"Yeah I do OMG! Don't tell me you don't remember. Gosh, you loser you SAVED US! Wait I guess you're not a loser no more; you're a winner because we are all thankful to you."

Deborah was beyond confused now. People seemed to think that she had saved them. She didn't know how to reply to that statement. She didn't want to lie, knowing that she caused so much pain, but she knew that if the police and the principal had said that story, it was to give Deborah a second chance. This was a chance that would bring normality back into her life. She wanted a punishment for what she had done, but knowing that she would always remember what had truly happened was punishment enough.

"Yeah, I guess I did save you guys," she responded humbly.

Caroline started smiling. "Well on behalf of our school alumni, I wanted to present you with a get well letter and a 50% off JCPENNY coupon, 'cause we know that people like you like to shop there especially with this economy. That way your dad won't waste more than a penny there."

Deborah wasn't surprised at Caroline's want-to-be-friendly response. She knew that simply was the way Caroline showed her appreciation. Caroline wasn't the type that would treat you bad for three years and suddenly decide to change, so Deborah was satisfied with her gesture, because it was better than the slap she honestly deserved.

The nurse came and interrupted the conversation

"Excuse me miss, but we have news about your father. He seems to have recuperated and is asking for you. He heard about the incident in the news and wanted to know if you were okay."

'He's worried about me,' Deborah thought as a wave of emotion swept through her.

"Well, Deborah, I would like to stay and chit chat, but I have to go meet Carl and the rest. We hope you get better soon."

Deborah had her differences with Carl and Caroline, but she knew that at the end of everything she actually cared for them. Even though she knew that they could never be friends, she would always care genuinely for them.

As the sun set, Deborah looked at her window as the colors yellow and orange disappeared to the blue dark sky. Even though darkness falls, there's a comfort to the thought that the moon gives us hope, and that the sun shall rise and take the darkness away.

Dean was released three days later. Sam and Dean went to the school to give their good-byes. They visited Michael one last time and wished him well. Although he was in a lot of pain, Dean insisted on driving. Sam shrugged and gave up the seat. Then Dean made an unexpected turn and went to Ms. Merriweather's place. With the help of Sam, Dean was able to discover that the body of the boy who had fallen into a well just outside her house. They explained to Ms. Merriweather what they had discovered and then called the police. After a talk with Michael, they cleared Ms. Merriweather's name.

"I'm ready to leave this place. Sam you drive." Dean said as he got into the passenger seat.

A smile spread across Sam's face, as he saw just how much his brother's life centered around helping those around him. He was tempted to tease his brother but deemed it best to leave him be.


End file.
